29 January 2016

Noel Gallagher awoke to bad news on January 10th. "My wife burst into the bedroom crying, and I thought one of the children had died," he says. "She said, 'David Bowie's dead.' I was like, 'Fuckin' hell.'" The former Oasis songwriter-guitarist (and Bowie mega-fan), whose latest U.S. tour begins in July, called a few days after Bowie's death to tell us about his five favorite songs by the Starman. "Let's celebrate his life more than mourn his passing," Gallagher says. "All things must pass, and all that."

28 January 2016

Noel Gallagher will present a radio show on Absolute Radio next month as part of the station's new Real Music Matters campaign.

The series of shows will run every Saturday throughout February and March, with the former Oasis man presenting a show on February 15 from 9pm-11pm. He will be joined by Russell Brand's comedy partner Matt Morgan.

A documentary team is looking for footage from the appearance of band Oasis at Slane in 1995.

The authorised feature documentary will chart the rise of Oasis from their beginnings in the basement of the Boardwalk to their landmark concerts at Knebworth in 1996.

Archive researcher Hannah Green says: "We are currently looking for any footage or photographs of the band's 1995 concert at Slane Castle where REM were also on the bill. We are ideally after shots taken backstage or whilst the band were trying to exit the venue - their van got caught in the crowd.

"Equally as helpful would be any articles covering the gig. The team behind this film includes the producers of Amy, Senna, Spike Island and is being directed by Mat Whitecross (Spike Island and Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll). My role on the film is finding the masses of archive footage and photos that we need to tell the story.

"Even if people don't have shots of Oasis, any photos or footage of the crush of people leaving the venue from any gig (ideally around 1995) would be incredibly useful!"

An upcoming documentary on Oasis will feature a 'riot' that broke out at their Newcastle show in 1994. Were you there?

They were the biggest band of the 1990s, fronted by two Mancunian brothers who were as opinionated as they were talented.

Now, a major new documentary on Oasis, the rock’n’roll band that defined a generation, is under production and the makers want your help in recalling a notorious Newcastle gig in 1994.

Hannah Green, who is working on the documentary, said: “It will cover their beginnings in the basement of the Boardwalk to their landmark concerts at Knebworth in 1996. We have the full support of Noel and Liam Gallagher.

“We’re currently after footage or photographs from the band’s infamous gig on August 9 at the Riverside, where supposedly a member of the audience threw a punch at Noel and a massive riot ended up breaking out.

“We are able to pay for any material used”.

Oasis were at the forefront of the Britpop movement, which heavily evoked music from three decades earlier by groups like The Beatles, The Who and The Small Faces.

During 1995-96, the group were at the peak of their powers, scoring classic hit singles like Wonderwall and Don’t Look Back In Anger, while their album Definitely Maybe was one of the finest of the decade.

The Gallagher brothers were, though, fond of the odd feud – falling out with each other, Brtipop rivals Blur, and Take That’s Robbie Williams, among others, all of which was meat and drink to the daily tabloids.

Back on August 9, 1994, Oasis were a relatively unknown, up-and-coming indie band when a brawl at a low-key Newcastle gig made headlines in the Chronicle.

The band were making their third appearance at the city’s Riverside club, and the football-related banter between the Manchester City-supporting Liam and Noel Gallagher and Newcastle United fans in the audience was ramping up the tension.

All hell broke loose when an audience member tried to climb on stage, then stumbled on to Noel, causing the guitarist to accidentally hit himself with his instrument, causing a nasty gash on his face.

(It was later suggested Noel was more concerned his guitar might be damaged - an instrument that had once belonged to The Who’s Pete Townshend and was on loan from Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr).

The band stormed off stage with singer Liam returning, brandishing a microphone stand, and snarling “no-one hits our kid” as the crowd chanted “soft as *****”.

The Daily Mail reported the show had descended into an ‘orgy of violence’, while the Chronicle also covered the incident.

We reported: “A band tipped for stardom were caught up in a brawl with their audience as they kicked off their national tour in Newcastle.

“Noel Gallagher, from the pop group Oasis, needed stitches after being attacked on stage at the Riverside.

“Others from the five-strong band, which includes his brother Liam, piled on top of the man and allegedly hit him, before the audience joined in.”

Our report went on to say the band had refused to return after getting only five numbers into the show and fans had swarmed the stage. The group managed to escape to their waiting van, but were besieged by chanting fans. Oasis later issued a statement, apologising for ending the show early, but said that Gallagher had been bleeding heavily.

“The actions of one lunatic have ruined it for the rest,” the statement read.

In the years after the brawl, Oasis returned successfully to the region on several occasions and they remain hugely popular.

They split in 2009 after increasing acrimony between the Gallagher brothers and formed separate bands, but you wouldn’t rule out the pair sharing a stage together again one day.

Did you see Oasis at Newcastle Riverside on August 9, 1994? Do you have any footage or pictures from the gig? Or do you have any interesting Oasis or Riverside memorabilia from this time?

Noel Gallagher insists he won't stop making music until no one shows up to his gigs.

Noel Gallagher will continue working until no one shows up to his gigs.

The Oasis frontman has no plans to make his exit from the music industry just yet and insists he'll be on stage until there is no audience members at his concerts.

When asked if he would be sad if he wasn't well known anymore, he said: "No. So long as I could still work. But I'd keep working until I did a gig that nobody turned up to and then I'd say, 'This is not just f***ing working anymore.' So there you go - I'm both."

Liam Gallagher has reacted angrily after he was mocked in an interview with his brother Noel.

The former Oasis bandmates' relationship was referenced in the feature published today, with the journalist saying she felt like asking Noel, 48, about his younger brother would be "like mocking the afflicted."

Slamming the rocker, 43, she wrote: "Liam, who once appeared to be living the dream, is now reduced to flogging mugs and bags, among other bagatelles, at his Pretty Green shops.

"Talking about him to his supremely accomplished and satisfied brother - whose dream it was, and who is still living it - would have seemed like mocking the afflicted."

But the father-of-three was less than impressed when he heard about the piece, and called The Sunday Times' Style magazine journalist Julie Burchill an "old tart" who he suggested should snort drugs instead of mocking him, after she admitted she "took loads of cocaine for 30 years."

Taking to Twitter, he raged: "Mocking the afflicted well you'd know all about that wouldn't ya have another line you old tart."

The furious tweet came just hours after he posted a rare selfie to brag about his holiday in Belize, Central America.

Posing topless for the snap, he wrote: "Let it BELIZE"

The former Beady Eye frontman has become increasingly vocal on the social network in the last month and just last week shut down claims he will be following in his older brother's footsteps by releasing a solo album.

He tweeted: "Solo record are you ****ing tripping d***head im not a c***."

But while Liam's been making arguments, Noel's been building friendships, revealing how he ended the Britpop war between Oasis and rivals Blur.

He explained: "We were in a nightclub - I hadn't spoken to him for years, but I hadn't slagged him off for years either. Me, the wife and the kids really liked Gorillaz.

"So when I passed him in the corridor, we said, 'let's go to the bar and get a beer.'

"And he said, 'Well, what was that all about?' And I said, 'Yeah, sorry 'bout that.' It was a bit weird, but it wasn't like two grown me having a weep about it.

"It was more like 'You know what? That time was f***ing brilliant, that stuff was f***ing great!'"

Noel Gallagher has been asked by The Sunday Times if he ever feel that a part of him got left behind, somewhere back in Burnage?

He said “When people ask, ‘Has fame changed you?’, the shit answer is ‘No, of course it hasn’t.’ I always say, ‘I hope it f****** has!’ Nobody could go through what I’ve gone through and not be changed. But the key is to recognise it. I go back to the same council house I grew up in to see my mum — she still lives there, my single bed is still in the same room with Liam’s single bed — and I sit on that bed and think, ‘This is where I played guitar for the first time.’ But I’m not a professional working-class person, and I can just as easily sit in my big house down here and think, ‘This isn’t because of anybody else, it’s because of all the practice I put in.’ And I love it.”

Noel Gallagher has spoken to The Sunday Times about recording a song for a future James Bond movie.

He said “If I was asked to write a Bond song, yeah, sure. The thing is, I’ve never had to chase anything. With Oasis, starting that band seemed impossible, and all my ambitions have seemed impossible, so I’m not remotely ambitious for anything that is attainable. Now I’ve done a bit, I don’t really give a f*** any more about achieving anything. I just want to write the best songs I can.”

Outspoken Oasis star Noel Gallagher has slammed the party he once backed… by calling Jeremy Corbyn a Communist.

The lead guitarist and main songwriter of the Manchester band, which burst onto the Britpop scene in the early nineties, was asked what he thought of Jeremy Corbyn and replied: "I don't like Communism."

Gallagher, 48, was being interviewed for The Sunday Times' Style magazine when he made the controversial comments.

The married father-of-three famously backed Tony Blair in his 1997 campaign to be Prime Minister but was quoted before last year's general election as saying that he would not be voting for any of the main parties.

He appeared not to have changed his mind while talking to the magazine, saying: "I could never vote Tory because some invisible force field would stop me from putting my vote in the ballot box.

"Speaking as somebody from the left, I thought the New Labour years, coming up to 1997, were amazing. It was so exciting to be in England at the time, because there were so many things going on.

"But then, the Labour Party proved themselves to be 'Meet the new boss, same as the old boss', and until that changes, I'm not having it. The Tories don't care about the vulnerable, and the Communists don't care about the aspirational."

Gallagher and his younger brother Liam, Oasis' lead singer, grew up in Burnage, a working class suburb four miles south of Manchester city centre.

Their parents were a concreter and a dinner lady and their mum still lives in the house where the Gallagher brothers grew up, and where they taught themselves to play guitar in their shared bedroom.

Noel Gallagher has revealed how one of the biggest rivalries in music ended.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the Oasis frontman explained how a meeting in a nightclub led to his making up with Blur frontman Damon Albarn.

It all stemmed from when Noel's wife Sara went over to Damon to say they liked Gorillaz and he reacted weirdly, asking: "Who sent you over here to say that?"

"So when I passed him in the corridor, we said, 'Let's go to the bar and get a beer'," Noel recalled. "It was a bit weird, but it wasn't like two grown men having a weep about it. It was more like 'You know what? That time was f**king brilliant, that stuff was f**king great!'"

​Noel Gallagher has revealed how one of the biggest rivalries in music ended.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the Oasis frontman explained how a meeting in a nightclub led to his making up with Blur frontman Damon Albarn.

It all stemmed from when Noel's wife Sara went over to Damon to say they liked Gorillaz and he reacted weirdly, asking: "Who sent you over here to say that?"

"So when I passed him in the corridor, we said, 'Let's go to the bar and get a beer'," Noel recalled. "It was a bit weird, but it wasn't like two grown men having a weep about it. It was more like 'You know what? That time was f**king brilliant, that stuff was f**king great!'"

4 January 2016

Liam Gallagher has appeared to rule out the possibility of pursuing a solo career.

Gallagher has been without a band since Beady Eye split in 2014 and his brother, Noel, has repeatedly spoken about his belief that his younger sibling should follow his post Oasis career and go solo.

However, Liam posted what appeared to be an unprovoked refusal of the idea on Twitter in the early hours of the morning (January 4), asking "Are you tripping, dickhead?" and saying he would not release solo material as he is "not a cunt."

The tweet was one of three difficult to decipher messages tweeted by Gallagher in the past 24 hours. The first ("Blah blah fucking blah") was possibly in relation to tabloid reports about a row between him and girlfriend Debbie Gwyther published yesterday. However, a second ("Excuse me sir has your dog been at your passport why you jealous fatty") left fans baffled.

1 January 2016

Time to rummage through the VHS collection and photos to see if you captured this long forgotten first TV appearance of Oasis before they became the biggest British band of their generation.

Makers of a new Oasis documentary sanctioned by Noel and Liam Gallagher are seeking what is thought to be the band's first TV appearance - as part of an ITV Telethon in 1992.

The broadcast, which took place on July 19 and was hosted by Michael Aspel, took place outside Granada Studios, and Oasis are believed to have played as part of the Blackpool Roadshow event organised by Granada TV.

No one is quite sure if the Oasis' set was broadcast, but the band has spoken in interviews about taking part in the telethon. Researchers for the biopic are also after still pictures or sound recordings that anyone in the audience might have taken.

The telethon, which brought all the regional ITV channels together, raised £15m for UK charities. The appearance is often incorrectly cited as being part of ITV's comedy-based fundraiser Comic Relief, or Red Nose Day, in 1993.

Makers of feature documentary Oasis - The Rock ’N’ Roll Band That Defined A Generation are asking people to look through their old VHS tapes and photo collections to see if they have captured the moment Oasis played almost a year before they were famously signed by Creation Records boss Alan McGee, at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow on May 31, 1993.

The Mat Whitecross feature documentary, which will be released to cinemas in 2016, is produced by James Gay Rees (Senna/Amy), Fiona Neilson (Spike Island), and Simon Halfon (Sleuth), with executive producer Asif Kapadia (Senna/Amy).

Oasis - The Rock ’N’ Roll Band That Defined A Generation is entirely made up of archive material and though the band do not appear on screen they and their former management have been interviewed about this formative period. The band's record label, Big Brother Recordings, has granted the film makers access to their archives.

It will chart their rise to fame which began when their first album, Definitely Maybe, became the fastest selling debut album in British history to date on its release in 1994.

During the height of their fame, Oasis landed eight UK number one singles - including Wonderwall, Don't Look Back In Anger, and Roll With It - and eight UK number one albums before their acrimonious split in 2009.

The documentary follows their story up to Oasis's two-night residency at Knebworth in 1996, when the group played to 250,000 fans, and hopes to paint a picture of the boys' childhood and the community and city that shaped the Gallaghers.

Despite constant rumours of reunification, Liam and Noel have had successful careers apart since 2009. Liam's band Beady Eye broke up in 2014, while Noel has released two chart topping albums with his solo project Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

The film's team of directors has a long history with making music movies. Whitecross also made the Stone Roses film Spike Island and Ian Dury biopic Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll, while Kapadia and Gay-Rees won acclaim with their Amy Winehouse archive documentary grossing £5.4 million at the box office.

Clips from the ITV Telethon do still exist online, but the Oasis appearance is not among them.

Anyone who thinks they may have unearthed this much needed footage can submit their videos by early January to researcher Hannah Green. All items will be returned, and the directors may pay to use rare footage. Contact Hannah Green on hannah.oasisfilm@gmail.com for mailing details.